Craponne (; frp, Crapona) is a
commune in the
Metropolis of Lyon
The Metropolis of Lyon (french: Métropole de Lyon), also known as ("Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity located in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly elected metropolitan authority encompassing ...
in the
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
in eastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
.
History
The name of the commune derives from ''crappe'', which means
quagmire
A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...
in
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligi ...
.
From 1800 to 1960, Craponne was the capital of the
launderers of Lyon. The museum of the Craponne Laundry (opened in 2004) traces the history of launderers, washerwomen and ironers, from washing in the river Yzeron to the modern industrial laundry.
The commune of Craponne was founded on 15 February 1836 when it separated from the mother-commune of
Grézieu-la-Varenne. The first mayor, François Boirivent, was appointed on 8 May 1837 and a town hall and a school were opened. According to the first census in 1833, which was made especially to prepare for the separation, Craponne had only 874 inhabitants. On the first map established during this separation, the buildings are shown as sparse, with less than 150 houses or farms built on the 464 hectares of the town. Fifty years later, in 1886, the population of Craponne had doubled to nearly 1900 inhabitants. This increase was due to the boom in laundry, the proximity of the commune to Lyon, and the opening in 1886 of the railway linking Lyon St-Just to Vaugneray which crossed Craponne.
Craponne was a member of the
intercommunal structure surrounding the city of Lyon, known as
Greater Lyon (''Grand Lyon''). This structure was replaced on 1 January 2015, and so Craponne is now part of the new territorial collectivity of the
Lyon Metropolis.
Population
Places and monuments
Two pillars from the Roman aqueduct of Yzeron, sometimes called the Craponne Aqueduct, remain standing and these are listed as an
historical monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
. The aqueduct was one of the four ancient aqueducts of Lyon, serving the ancient Roman city of
Lugdunum
Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settleme ...
. It owes its name to the fact that it draws water from the watershed of the Yzeron river, which is a tributary of the
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
.
References
Communes of Lyon Metropolis
Lyonnais
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